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My first handspun yarn

Submitted by WillyG on Wed, 2009-05-13 22:21

I went with a bunch of women on a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The woman behind me on the bus introduced me to the drop spindle, and offered to get me started if I bought one at the fest. With her help I did, and I bought a few kinds of roving. Since then I've been having fun getting into yarn in a new way. Here's my first handspun yarn, still on the spindle. I know it's not spun or plied well or anything...it's my first attempt. But I am happy with it because I love the colorway, and I really enjoyed the process. Partake in my joy, if you will!

P.S. I was delighted to find, as shown in the second to last pic, how little of the colored strand remained after plying.

Nice job! I would have never guessed that this was your first attempt by looking at your finished work. I took a drop spindle at a ranch here a few weeks ago and quite enjoyed it. I'm sure if you get the spinning bug, you will be creating loads and loads of beautiful yarn!

Good for you! Love all the colour. It's been suggested a couple of times to me that I learn to spin. Haven't ventured into that yet, though. Thanks for sharing your pics. Is your spindle a top or a bottom? Did the woman that helped you say one or the other is preferred for starters? This is kool.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." --Albert Einstein

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." --Albert Einstein

Haha, Albert! I do have another pic of the balls and spindle you might enjoy.

The spindle is a bottom whorl. Carla helped me pick it out, and when it came to top or bottom, it pretty much had to do with what she was taught on and feels most comfortable with. Everyone there said that it's really a matter of what you prefer...but as a beginner, how would I know what I prefer? Haha. What she did suggest, though, is a heavier spindle to begin on, so as to work initially with a more or less worsted weight. Carla may not have been the best teacher...she's more like a genie full of excitement. She just whisked out this threadlike yarn; I, a mere baby and a mortal, fumbled.

You're a natural. I took a class once and didn't get very far. Put the roving and spindle under the bed and never took it up again. I gave it to a friend who does spin and got a nice skein of hand spun alpaca in return!! You did a great job there! The colors are great.